problem whith user authentication / httpd.conf

Hi, im trying to configure user authentication to a folder containing some web pages...
but it doesnt work
i have this (on my httpd.conf):

<Directory "mydirectory">
AuthName "Restricted Access"
AllowOverride AuthConfig
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /etc/httpd/conf/users
require valid-user
</Directory>


i did htpasswd /etc/httpd/conf/users <username>
and create 2 users (& passwords)...

doesnt work cause when i try to access the 'restricted' web it prompts a dialog box asking for a user and password (it also shows the Authname i'd specified)... but apparently it doesn't validate the fields: i put a user/password (anyone specified in 'users') and it shows me the dialog box again!! (3 times!).. after that it shows and error page:

"Authorization Required
This server could not verify that you are authorized to access the document requested. Either you supplied the wrong credentials (e.g., bad password), or your browser doesn't understand how to supply the credentials required."


help plizzz...

Make sure your password (/etc/httpd/conf/users) file is owned by the user running Apache or, if you don't care about security, make te file world readable.